NASA’s prestigious “Photo of the Day” award was recently awarded to Italian astronomer Rolando Ligustri. It happened the day before yesterday, for the awards ceremony on January 20.
Who is the award-winning Italian photographer
Originally from Talmassons, in the province of Udine, Ligustri is an amateur astronomer whose career of more than fifty years is devoted to the observation of comets. His latest photographic project was awarded by the US Space Agency, which chose one of his images as “Astronomical image of the day”, an initiative that celebrates exceptional astronomical photographs from around the world every day.
Rolando Ligustri is no stranger to this type of recognition. With more than 50 years of experience in sky observation, he has built a solid reputation in the field of amateur astronomy, specializing in the capture of comets. “I am an old enthusiast. I spent 50 years tracking comets,” said the amateur astronomer, reflecting on a journey that began decades ago. During this half-century, Ligustri captured and shared extraordinary images of comets and other celestial phenomena, contributing to scientific dissemination and bringing the public closer to astronomy.
The photo awarded by NASA
The award-winning photograph depicts Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1), one of the newest discoveries of 2023, captured with impressive clarity and precision. NASA, which, through the “Astronomy Picture of the Day” project, selects the best images of astronomical phenomena, chose Ligustri’s work for its scientific and aesthetic value.
-Below we present the winning photo, also published at the top of the article
Photo: NASA, SOHO spacecraft, LASCO C3; Elaboration: Rolando Ligustri
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